Jose Mourinho believes Fernando Torres has been a disappointment in Chelsea colours since his £50 million move from Liverpool, but he has given the Spaniard hope that he can have a future in the Blues' new set-up.

Torres finished last season as Chelsea's top scorer in all competitions, but Mourinho admits the striker has failed to live up to his billing since becoming the most expensive signing in English football history.

"Torres so far is so-so," Mourinho is quoted in the Mirror. "Somebody could expect more because of his potential, because of what he did before, but not so bad as people sometimes try to say. There is a balance.

"Normally the tendency is to say it was a big mistake. It was a big mistake because it didn't work. Real Madrid and Kaka didn't work 100 per cent. It's not a mistake, it's just a consequence of football and reasons."

Meanwhile, Mourinho has revealed for the first time the story behind Chelsea's previous club record signing, as he admitted Andriy Shevchenko was only signed for a £30m fee in 2007 after Stamford Bridge chiefs failed to land their first choice target.

"Do you want to know the truth and I hope the board is not upset with me to say this," he said. "We wanted Samuel Eto'o. Why? He was the only player I could play with Didier Drogba, changing the system for two strikers, but he was also ready to play with Drogba with the system we had at the time.

"The boss did everything to bring Eto'o and in the end of the moment, Barcelona said we don't sell, forget it, forget it and after that we went to other options and got to Shevchenko.

"I was happy with Shevchenko. When [you] buy 20 kids, not 20 kids will go to the first team and even with the top dogs, when you spend £30m, £40m, £50m, £60m, sometimes it doesn't work. It doesn't mean you or the club made a mistake. It just doesn't work."